Payal Kapadia’s fiction feature debut “All We Imagine As Light” is set in contemporary India, which in itself is quite a rarity.  She is a compelling storyteller and for this delicate and very human tale, she has already picked up the Grand Prix Award at Cannes for the film,  and this week a nomination for a Golden Globe Best Director Award (possible a Oscar nod to come too?)

The younger Anu is enjoying the freedom living in the city allows a yiung woman,  and she and her boyfriend Shiaz grab every oppotuniay to slip away for some heavy petting.  A date at his  parents empty house for a night of debauchery had to be cancelled when they returned unexpectedly.  And if that is not bad enough her parents are now pressuring for her to return to her home village for an arranged marriage

Meanwhile, the older Parvaty, who is a cook at the hospital and a widow is being threatened with eviction because a property developer has bought her apartment building and her late husband did not leave her the documentation that would prove her resident’s right to remain, or at least to get compensation.  They’ve threatened her, but Parvaty talks tough and conveys a resiliency bordering on obstinacy.  Like the two nurses the strong-headed cook is determined to do things her way even if that means moving back to her village. 

In this cultural male hierarchy these women are resilient in their resolve to be in the control of their own destinies ….. you’ll have to watch this compelling drama come to its own unsuspected drama to know how it plays out. They may not be making a lot of noise that we have come to expect from the womens movement these days but by the end of this movie, we know that their approach is the right to bring about the equality these women so deserve.